Charlie Bone and the Just War
by manfredbloors
Summary: The City is dying under the influence of Ezekiel and a shadow. The war is in a horrible stalemate. Someone's brewing up some trouble for Manfred and the Bloors.  OC
1. Friends of the Pets' Cafe

Disclaimer: Jenny Nimmo owns everyone except Thistle and Isolde, and the White Queen. (OC DON'T STEAL)- Loljks Who would actively steal an OC, I mean really?

This story departs from canon after The Blue Boa and winds down its own twisty dystopia. Bloors works on the year system of most UK schools and as it starts at year seven can be termed a secondary school.

So, uhm... yeah.

Hope you enjoy it. Reviews would be nice. And Yes it's OC central-ish. Tell me if she gets Mary-Sue-ish. At all. But remember Morpheus scored Seventy yet the Sandman rocks.

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

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><p><em>a boy is losing his power. the others are getting stronger. this is war.<em>

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><p>Long, long ago, at about the time a king arrived in the north, there lived a queen in the plains of what we now know as Russia.<p>

They called her the White Queen, or those that she left alive did, for her snow white cloak and the white flower that shone on her shield and the shield of her army. It was said that she had been there amongst the snow and ice for as long as anyone could remember. This queen was a terrible magician, capable of rendering castles to dust with a wave of her hand; segments of this power were passed on into each of her six children.

This power consumed the four male heirs and they drew arms against their mother triggering a bloody war. The eldest male, Evgeny, a cruel and sadistic war-mongeror was killed by his own men whilst the battle raged and the other three, the youngest of whom was just twelve perished at the hands of their mother's army.

The eldest girl was named Erzebet and consumed with despair for her lost brothers she fled leaving her younger sister, the youngest of them all, alone with the heartless queen.

Broken and lonely the princess Anael sought comfort in a ranger from the west. Ten days before their child was brought into this world, the queen slew the ranger. Anael did of a broken heart during childbirth.

The queen took charge of the child and raised her as a daughter.

However, the misery was not over for Erzebet, hiding in the forests of the east had heard the cries of her dying sister and returned to see her child safe.

Erzebet killed the queen with fire and froze the ashes in a brick of ice at the foot of a mountain.

The girl of ice stayed with her until her death whereupon she vanished into the forests that covered the Kingdoms of Russia.

The misery of the white family saved the world from another battle like that which rages between the children of the red king.

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><p>Chapter One<p>

It was love at first sight.

The first time Charlie saw those delicious looking biscuits he fell madly in love with them.

It was the Saturday before the start of the autumn term and Charlie was meeting the gang at the Pets' Cafe.

"Are you okay, Charlie?"

Charlie held up a hand at the question, as if to say 'not now I'll answer later'.

"Need," he mumbled. "Biscuit."

Emma shrugged and passed a biscuit to Charlie who was about near to drooling.

Fidelio narrowed his eyes, it was his question that had been ignored. "I have it on good authority that your nice grandmother feeds you like a king, Charlie Bone. And is that anyway to treat your long lost friends?"

Charlie, who was munching noisily on his biscuit, had the good grace to look sheepish.

"Sorry, Fido. Maisie was ill this morning and I love my mother and my uncle but they cannot cook to save their lives, and Grandma Bone would just poison me. I'm suprised she hasn't yet to tell you the truth."

Emma smiled and laid a hand on Charlie's. "You have as many biscuits as you like, Charlie."

"Thanks, Em."

"They haven't killed you-" Lysander began.

"Yet."

"Thank you, Tancred. Yet. Because they still hold out the hope that they can turn you in to an evil clone of evilness-"

"Eloquent."

"Thank you, Tancred. And they think that if you turn evil-"

"Clone of evilness." Tancred snickered.

Lysander punched him in the nose. "We'll follow." He turned to his best friend. "You made that far more difficult than it had to be, you know."

"Hey," Tancred held up his hands in mock surrender, scrunching up his hurting nose. "I haven't been around to annoy you so much. I took my chance."

"Hate you all."

"Hi, Liv... wait Liv? What's with the hair?"

Olivia smiled. "I'm auditioning for a role in a film but the character's like three years younger than me. She has brown hair."

"Allrighty then. Anyway," Charlie looked at Fidelio pointedly. "How art all my long lost friends?"

There was a chorus of 'All good, you?'s from around the table.

"I'm good, too. Ready for school?"

This time there was a chorus of groans and vehement 'No's from the table and a 'Ngrh' from Tancred.

Lysander groaned louder still, his head in his hands. He patted Tancred on his shoulder and looked up at the group.

"He hasn't had his medicine, today," he said, by way of explaining Tancred. You cannot explain Tancred, he is a thing of his own, like tigger he is wonderful and everyone is pleased that he is the only one.

"What nasty tricks d'you think they'll have in store for us this year Charlie?" Emma asked.

"I don't know."

"You don't?

"I do not know."

Tancred grinned. "Lookit, little super-hero doesn't know. Seriously, though, it can't be that bad. They are a school. There are rules... at least I'm pretty sure there ought to be."

Lysander turned in the seat he and Tancred were sharing and looked him in the eyes.

"Bloors is a magic school. Dr. Bloor has leverage over the police in this city and he'll get Manfred to... be Manfred on anyone who tries to interfere. We're screwed."

"Nice speech there, Sander. Wanna depress us any more?" Olivia snarked while Fidelio scoffed.

"Magic school? You make it sound like Hogwarts."

"In what dystopia would that prison be Hogwarts?" Olivia asked.

"It isn't Hogwarts but Liv we aren't endowed, we have it better than them. We aren't caught up in the power-struggle."

Charlie nodded sagely. "Vicious power struggle."

"Mhm with biting and scratching." Agreed Tancred.

Fidelio rolled his eyes. "Infants."

"We're the same age as you," said Charlie, waving at Emma and Olivia. "And they are one year older."

Lysander and Tancred nodded and then went back to glaring at each other.

The bell at the door of the cafe jingled and in walked a girl with tousled red hair and white skin. As one all of the boy's jaws dropped.

Tancred moved to get up but Lysander stopped him.

"Really bro'? You think you have the slightest shot there?" he asked his friend, eyebrows raised.

"May have," said Tancred petulantly. "And if not maybe I'll invite her to sit with us." He glanced around the table. "We'll make space."

He got up and brushed some imaginary lint off his jumper. He brought his hand through his hair and plastered on a 'winning' smile. "Smooth," he murmured to himself. "I am a smooth operator."

The girl had ordered a glass of milk and she leant against the bar with it, watching Tancred approach.

He stood next to her and looked at Mrs. Onimous. "Can I get another OJ please?"

He turned to the new arrival and put out his hand.

"Hi," he said cheerfully. "I'm Tancred, Tancred Torsson."

The girl who was taller and older than Tancred smiled and shook the proffered hand.

"Hello Tancred Tancred Torsson. My name's Isolde, I'm new in the city."

The first thing that struch Tancred was the complete lack of accent Isolde displayed, the next was he sweet smile and the third was her sharp teeth.

She shook her head lightly and her hair tumbled down her shoulders.

"Will- ah, will you be going to Bloors?" Tancred stuttered.

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh, nothin'," said Mr. Smooth. "Me and my friends over there," he jerked his head backwards to the table where Lysander had his head in his hands, again. "We go to Bloors too, and seeing as you're new perhaps we could tell you some stuff." Tancred seemed to notice here that he'd been babbling and clamped his mouth shut.

Isolde smiled again, warmly as if amused by the younger boy's antics and wish to please.

"Sure," she said. "I'd like that."

"Heads up guys, Tanc's caught her and he's reelin' her in."

Olivia scowled, "Really, Charlie. People are not fish."

Emma had moved to sit next to Lysander who was simpering and whining with his head in his hands.

"Sander," she soothed. "The girl's coming over here, don't you want to make a good impression?"

"He's going to embarrass himself and by default me too. It always happens like this!" The tall boy lifted his head and grabbed Emma's wrists. "It never ends well!"

"Could you be normal, for once?" Olivia sniped. "Please!"

"Olivia," Emma chastened. "Just because you're stressed doesn't mean you can take it out on everyone."

Fidelio snorted out a laugh. "Yeah 'cause Lysander is so clearly cut deep by your cruel, cruel words."

"Guys, guys. Stop! We are friends." Charlie looked at them, the very archetype of ambivalence and friendliness. He smiled. "Let us welcome this new girl to our fold."

Olivia cracked a smile first and lunged at Emma, enveloping the smaller blond in a bear-hug. Emma giggled and sat up allowing Olivia more room to scooch over and steal half of her chair.

By this time Tancred and the redhead had reached the table.

"Do you normally share each other's chairs?" asked the girl, as Tancred slid back onto his and Lysander's seat.

Charlie grinned. "We're economising."

The girl bowed her head. "Well, thank you for economising. May I take this chair?" She gestured to the seat next to Charlie, or as Olivia would have griped: The Only Available Chair.

"Sure."

Tancred took over as the girl took her seat: "Guys, this is Isolde... sorry I didn't catch your last name...?"

Isolde's eyes flashed to him. "I didn't give it," she said. "Koroleva." She laughed slightly. "Well, Belaya-Koroleva, technically."

"Koro- What does it mean?" Emma asked, her eyes wide and curious.

"Mm? Oh, well... it doesn't matter what it means. You can just call me Isolde White, if any last name is called for. I'm enrolled at the school under that name."

At this point in the introduction of Isolde to the scooby gang I require a sound effect that cannot really be described wittily through words. So this is the best I can do: *Crickets*

Odd answer, thought Charlie and he recovered to ask more questions of the red-headed Isolde.

"So, Isolde, what brings you to the city?"

"I- Someone told me about your Academy and, well, I thought I'd give it a try. There aren't may schools in this country that deal with gifts in such a way."

Fidelio narrowed his eyes. "You're one of them then?"

Here it must be said that Fidelio has nothing against the endowed, in fact most all of his friend are endowed. Fido just is wary of someone who won't tell him her real name.

Isolde looked at him kindly. "Yes. I'm one of them."

"What's your thing?" asked Olivia.

Isolde looked down at her hands, which were picking apart a poor defenceless biscuit. (Charlie was devastated.)

"Knowing when people I've just met are asking a whole lot of questions too fast."

Everyone had the good graces to look sheepish. Even the pets who'd been forgotten over with Gabriel who was sat at the window being enigmatic and trying to stretch his psychic to something that was not clothes.

"Sorry. You don't even know our names. Uhm. I'm Charlie, those two sharing the seat are Emma and Olivia, then we have Fidelio Gunn, you've met Tancred. That's Lysander and over there by the window is Gabriel Silk."

Isolde nodded at each teenager in turn and then looked to Gabriel.

"Why does he sit alone?"

"No idea."

No-one noticed the odd syntax.

"Uhm sorry I've just realised( so have I, Charlie) where's your pet?"

"Oh, the necessary bargaining chip that allows one access to the 'Pets' Cafe'? See that dirty great wolf of a thing over there," she waved at what looked to Charlie exactly like a wolf.

"That's Thistle and no, he isn't a wolf. He's an Utonagan. Perfectly harmless unless you bitch at him. Then little Thistle becomes sharp and pointy thorn." Isolde laughed at her joke and whistled to the huge dog.

Turned out that Thistle was the nicest dog ever, except for Runner Bean. He padded over to Isolde and sat down next to her.

"Now I know your names and you know mine and my dog's. If you tell me your endowments, I will tell you mine."

No-one noticed that that statement sounded suspiciously like Isolde was a girl of many Talents. I'm going to stop doing this now. Notice things yourselves.

Charlie blinked owlishly for several seconds before Fidelio piped up.

"Well I for one am not endowed. My name is Fidelio Gunn and I am a musician."

Olivia grinned and nodded. "Same here, my name is Olivia Vertigo and I am an actress."

Isolde glanced around. "What about you, Charlie?"

"I am endowed, I'm a- I don't know. Picture traveller?"

"You can hear the voices of people in photographs and paintings, and sometimes you can go into the scene?" Isolde intoned as if she had learnt the definition of by heart.

"That's about it."

"Tancred Torsson. Storm Bringer."

"Torsson, from the Scandinavian Thorson, as in the god of thunder. Cool." said Isolde.

"Lysander Sage. I can call up my spirit ancestors." Sander looked embarrassed at his talent.

"It's better than it sounds," exclaimed Tancred. "His ancestors kick butt."

"Emma Tolly. I can fly, well turn into a bird."

Gabriel had appeared behind Charlie, looking sheepish with his overgrown limbs. "Gabriel Silk. I come from a line of psychics. I can feel emotions through the clothes people have worn." He laughed bitterly. "All my clothes have to be brand new."

"What if you get second hand happiness?" asked Isolde.

"It's not real and doesn't last."There was a sudden sadness in Gabriel's tone and Isolde stood up in a rush of white clothes and red hair and a second later she was hugging Gabriel.

Someone Gabriel didn't know as hugging Gabriel. Charlie wished for a camera.

Gabriel actually smiled.

"I can feel your emotions." he said and he looked up at her. "You have had sadness but in these clothes you are strong and happy. It makes me feel lighter."

Isolde smiled warmly and let go of him. "Glad to be of help."

Gabriel grinned. "So what's your endowment? Now we've told you ours."

"Oh just plain boring fulgurkinesis."

At the blank looks of the students Isolde slid back down into her seat and looked at the metal of the table.

"Move back a bit. Make sure you aren't touching the table. Now, this table is grounded so nothing bad should in theory happen." She lifted a hand and placed the tip of her index finger on the ring of metal at the centre of the table.

A blue charge of sparkling electricity blossomed around her finger and surged to meet the ground, crackling as it went.

Tancred looked at her in awe. "Can you make lightning too?"

Isolde smirked.

"Yes. I can make thunderbolts."

There was a collective exhale. "Cool."

The group hadn't noticed that it was dark outside, or indeed that they had been in the cafe since lunchtime.

Fidelio leapt up. "My god, I'm so late. My mum's going to kill me! Come on Liv, we have to go."

Olivia nodded and smiled at Isolde.

"I'm sorry, it was so nice to meet you. I'm sure we'll see you on Monday. By guys."

"Bye, Liv. Goodbye Fido."

The two wandered out into the dark.

Charlie looked at Emma.

"We'd best get back to the bookshop. Uncle Paton'll still be there I'll walk home with him."

Emma said her goodbyes and Charlie led her out.

Tanc looked at Lysander who was all but asleep on his shoulder, and then up to Gabriel.

"I'll call my mum." He said and then he turned to Isolde. "Can we give you a lift anywhere?"

The girl shook her head.

"I have to go check into my hotel. See you on Monday."

She waved and watched the three boys go.

"Fulgurkinesis," she mumbled to her dog. "Good word."

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><p>So, uhm... yeah.<p>

Review plz.

S


	2. Tea and Talk

All hail Nimmo.

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><p><em>"No one is going to die!"<em>

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><p>Ingledew's was a quaint little shop with a warm and inviting atmosphere. Or so said the Information booklet on the city that he'd read when he was younger.<p>

Manfred knew, however, that to him Ingledew's would be a cold and uninviting place and that he would be constantly given looks of doom by its owners.

The shop's bell gave a half-hearted chime as he opened the door and walked in.

There was an intake of breath and Julia Ingledew walked out from behind her counter, rage written clearly on her face.

This was unfair, he hadn't done anything. Sure, last year he'd locked the woman's niece in a cell in the attic but that wasn't his idea now was it? Point is he hadn't done anything today...

"Get out!" quavered the woman with the shaking finger of doom that was pointing at the door he'd just entered through. The Only Door.

He lifted his hands in a show of surrender and peaceful meanings.

"I come in peace. I have no dastardly plan to destroy the city in a plume of purple smoke. I would like to find a book as I am bored out of my skull."

Julia grabbed a ceremonial sword off the shelf.

"I mean you no harm!" Manfred whined.

The woman drew nearer.

"I just- oh fine. Do you know any other good bookstores?"

"There's a Waterstones down the High Street."

"Thanks."

"Welcome."

"Auntie, what's happen-" Emma trailed off and glared at the visitor.

"I'm already leaving. God. I hate my life."

Emma lost the glare and looked blank.

"Manfred what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I was going to buy a book but I am clearly He Who Must Be Shunned as if He has Plague. So now I'm going to Waterstones, where people don't know who I am and will sell me books."

Emma nodded. "Waterstones," she said. "Land of the Free."

Julia glared at her niece out of the corner of her eye, refusing to look away from the hypnotist.

"Emma Tolly you go to your room and read some historical literature that was not begotten from Waterstones." she said.

Then a girl's voice said, politely and calmly: "Excuse me."

And to Emma Isolde entered the room, to Julia a customer who was not evil had entered the room. To Manfred, who was an eighteen year old, a very pretty girl had entered the room.

"Oh, so this is the bookshop Charlie meant. Hi Emma."

Manfred swept aside and allowed Isolde to enter the room properly.

Emma waved.

"Hi, Isolde. This is my home. This is my aunt Julia and," she faltered over Manfred who grimaced at his awful life.

"My name is Manfred Bloor," he deadpanned, half expecting thunder and lightning to flare up behind him. "And I am just leaving."

Emma snickered. "Manfred's evil. He's like the anti-Charlie," she explained.

"I vehemently disagree. I am awesome, you're just on the wrong side, and aren't you supposed to be frightened of me?"

Emma shook her head.

"That stopped when I woke up and realised that I could beat you."

"Hey it wasn't like Emilia Moon was my idea, sure I gave her a name but you populated the space with piece of your personality, a pretty docile bit but still. Emilia Moon was not a punishment."

"Emilia Moon was a frightened girl who you bullied and controlled." Emma's eyes glinted with steel. "I think you should leave now, hypnotist."

Manfred gritted his teeth. "Gone."

He saw Isolde smirking at him as he left. "What are you looking at?" he hissed and then he walked out into the evening.

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><p>He reached the middle of the square before the girl who had followed him made her presence known.<p>

"Mm. Hello, hypnotist."

Manfred kept walking and looked straight ahead.

"Hello person I have never seen before but seems to know Charlie Bone AKA the anti-christ."

"I'm new to this city. I shall be attending your," she paused and appeared to internally calculate something, "father's school."

Now Manfred did look down at her, with gentle curiosity in his eyes.

"In what year and in what house?" he asked quietly.

"12, lower sixth, and most likely Drama." Isolde answered promptly.

"Are you endowed?"

"You are the second person to ask me that and the seventh person who wants to know. Do you deserve the answer? And with it, and you being the son of the headmaster who is said to rule his school with an iron grip and a sympathy towards the darker cause of the children of the red king, and you being the grandson of the failed sorcerer Ezekiel Bloor, what would you do?"

Manfred looked at her for a second in wild disbelief but then his eyes began to narrow and he tilted his head to the side.

"Mm. The Tolly girl was nice to you, this implies that the first person to ask, a member, no doubt, of the most illustrious scooby gang, was successful and Emma, on of seven, found out your endowment." He took a breath. "However, at the slight twitch of the corner of your mouth I guess that you told them only a part of it or some kind of white lie. The fact that you have done this means that you do not know who to trust and are currently evaluating both sides of the playing board, deciding where to place your allegiance. How am I doing so far?"

The girl smiled, looking intrigued. "Go on."

"Null hypotheses: you aren't going to tell me, or if you do it will not be the truth-" Isolde appeared about object, Manfred held his hand to silence her. "Fine, two null hypotheses. Alt. hyp. you will tell me and the universe will be so shocked it forces itself to reboot."

The girl was outright grinning now.

"Well, Mister Bloor. I have no idea why the 'scooby gang' don't like you. I think your hilarious."

"Not sure if compliment?"

"Well, it wasn't an insult. But if you felt it was you can insult me back."

Manfred was an inch from swearing violently and hypnotising this girl like nobodies business. He thought for a moment. His mind came up blank.

"Stupid."

Isolde laughed at him.

"I don't believe I have ever been so very insulted in my life," she snarked.

Manfred Bloor: Smooth Talker.

Points to Isolde: 3. One for being clever, the second fro being sneaky and the third for making him miss Waterstones.

"You missed Waterstones."

Manfred glared. "Hate you." He wasn't entirely sure if he'd said that directly to her of the universe in general.

He looked at her again and there must have been some kind of plea in his eyes as the girl reached up, patted his shoulder and smile condescendingly.

"I live by suspension of disbelief, if you try to when it comes to me, you're brain won't get confused."

Manfred was going to say something along the lines of 'okay then' but ended up saying:

"Where's your dog?"

This confused Manfred as he had no idea that the girl even had a dog, which was when he noticed the fur on her sleeve. He relaxed a bit and felt clever.

"Wandering about somewhere, I'll call him if you're worried."

Manfred wasn't worried. Well, he was. But not about the dog, about the fact that she didn't even question his knowledge of the existence of the dog. She may have been clever enough to figure out that he'd seen the fur but it was common decency to put other people at ease by not seeming omniscient.

He shivered. "Please, tell me that your endowment has a sufficient explanation for," he waved his hands in the air, "you. Or go away and allow my brain to patch the errors your very existence causes."

"Mind blown?"

"Hate you."

"Repetitive."

"Tea?"

"That would be nice yes."

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><p>Thunder happened and then it began to rain. In his room in his house in the Heights, Tancred Torsson had no idea why he was suddenly very, very jealous.<p>

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><p>Two young people sit in a dark room with candles. They are drinking tea.<p>

"So, if I let you kill my relatives and take over the school you are fully sure that you could be a successful Evil Overlord."

"Not in an Evil way and," she dropped her voice into something that was positively innocent. "Aren't Evil Overlord's Always Male?"

Manfred smiled and inclined his head in a move that clearly meant 'touche'.

"Then you would be and Evil Overlady... which doesn't have quite the same ring to it."

"No, it doesn't." Isolde shrugged her shoulders and took another sip of her tea. "I'd just be the Dark Queen Izol'da."

"Why do I have a feeling that you just spelt Isolde differently in your mind?"

"Because I said it in Russian, where it is Eye Zed Oh El apostrophe Dee Ay."

"Cool."

She smiled. She couldn't help herself, he was good conversation but not eloquent for the sake of eloquent. If nothing else was necessary he was fine with monosyllabic responses. It was love.

She smiled. "I still haven't told you my endowment."

Manfred didn't look up. "I doubt you ever told anyone your true endowment, you just tell 'em something and either they stick around long enough to notice if you were telling them the truth or a lie, or they don't bother and thus it doesn't actually matter what they know."

"Hate you."

"Unimaginative."

Isolde turned her expression grave and wandered over to Manfred's window. She opened it and climbed out to the outside ledge.

"A fall from here," she began softly. "Would it kill me?"

She felt Manfred behind her.

"A normal human, a very fragile child, perhaps. But what I have seen of you is not suicidal, in fact you would, in a normal world, have a very high self-preservation instinct. That you are taking this risk tells me that no, a fall from this height, or perhaps a fall from any height would not kill you."

"Push me?"

Manfred leant back with a small intake of breath.

"Things can go wrong," he said simply. "Where did the simple happiness go from this conversation?"

But Isolde had made up her mind and the primal instinct and fear caused Manfred to reach out to try to save her.

There was a sickening crunch.

He looked down.

Her lichen eyes in her oddly shaped skull looked up at him and somewhere in the broken face her mouth smiled.

And then the girl began to knit back together.

* * *

><p>Dun dun dun...<p>

Thus begins the downward spiral of the trecherous line toeing between Yay and MARY SUE GET OUT!


End file.
